House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Currently, the Election Code of 1937 requires watchers to be registered voters of the county in which the election district for which the watcher was appointed to is located. In the near future, I will be introducing legislation that will permit a registered voter of this Commonwealth to be appointed as a watcher in any election district located in Pennsylvania.

I believe it is arbitrary to limit the ability of a registered voter to serve as watcher outside of his or her county of residence. Many of the Commonwealth’s elections have statewide and federal implications, which mean Pennsylvania’s registered voters, regardless of location, have a vested interest in ensuring that the electoral process is properly administered in every election district.

Even in State Assembly races, districts encompass more than one county. This legislation would allow poll watchers, recruited by a candidate, to work in any county where that person is needed and not limited to only the county where the poll watcher resides.